Auburn’s lack of size has been a problem for Steven Pearl’s squad so far this season, especially in losses to Michigan, Arizona and Purdue, in which the opponents had more height and depth on the inside than that of the Tigers.
That will be the case again on Wednesday night when Auburn takes on Missouri in Columbia. The black-and-gold Tigers feature three guys taller than 6-foot-9, including 7-foot center Shawn Phillips Jr. and 6-foot-9 forward Mark Mitchell, who leads Missouri with 17.4 points and 5.3 rebounds per game.
Add in 6-foot-8 forward Jacob Crews, and Auburn will have its hands full in the lane all game long.
“They’ve got tremendous size,” Pearl said. “Them and Florida are two of the biggest teams in our conference, so that’ll pose a challenge to us. Shoot good percentages from all over the floor. The only place they really struggle the most is at the free-throw line, and they do a really good job of rebounding their misses off free throws. So (defensively), they’re gonna do a lot of switching, and they do a good job contesting shots around the rim.”
Murphy, Jović need to step up
The good thing for Pearl’s Tigers is that its two dominant guys inside, KeShawn Murphy and Filip Jović, are playing arguably some of their best basketball of the season right now. Murphy put up a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds in Auburn’s blowout victory over No. 15 Arkansas on Saturday, while the freshman Jović, who was injured in the loss to Texas A&M last week before returning against the Razorbacks, had his best game in the SEC opener against Georgia, recording 10 points and 10 rebounds in the overtime loss.
Pearl has been most impressed by the young Bosnia & Herzegovina native’s defense.
“Defensively, he’s just really shown an ability to sit down and just guard and keep his man in front. He’s so coachable,” said Pearl. “We tell him to get low and get wide, and he looks like a damn spider down there. He gets as low as he possibly can, spreads his arms out as wide as he possibly can and just gets into a stance. It’s really hard to drive when you’re that spread-out and you’re taking up that much real estate.
Auburn and Missouri tip off at 6 p.m. CT on ESPN2.